Our Weekend, on a Monday

Yesterday was about all things Easter, but the rest of the weekend was pretty awesome too. I know this is going to come across as sounding really silly...but once this time of the year rolls around I start to feel so ALIVE. Like "Sound of Music" singing in the hills alive. Not even kidding. I react a bit to seasonal changes, so as soon as it warms up and we're able to spend more time outdoors I always feel happier. Pair that with being sick for a couple of weeks and now feeling better, and then my wisdom teeth being done and over with, I'm positively giddy about just enjoying every day.



My weekend started early this week and on Thursday night Adie and I went and saw Titanic in 3D. It was magnificent. Really and truly. I'm already so in love with Leo and Kate, but to see them together once more on the big screen, and to experience one of my favorite movies in 3D was way too awesome. There were a lot of teenagers in there and Adie and I couldn't help but wonder if this was the first time they'd ever seen it, and if they thought it was beautiful or cheesy. I was so tempted to stop a group and ask them, but didn't want to be a weird stranger over-enthusiastically asking questions so I held back. ;)



Friday morning Henry and I met two friends and their little ones for a downtown stroll. It was such a good time and so nice to spend the morning chit chatting while getting in some exercise too! Afterward Adie came over and we hung out all day, and later that night we all met the Peters' family who was in town for the evening and had our usual Mexican food fest at Hugo's. After dinner I rolled our overly-full selves home, put Henry to sleep, and went to bed early myself while Hank went out for a wild night with his friends! It's funny to me because although he doesn't drink, his friends do, so he always has the best stories and memories from their nights out. It was our friend Dustin's 29th and as usual, craziness ensued, and I had a good time hearing all the details the next day.






Saturday morning I got up and met my friend for a 90 minute hot yoga class at a local studio I hadn't tried yet and ended up LOVING it. It's exactly what I was hoping to find, and I was really, really surprised. Later on I got to have a little afternoon date with Hank thanks to my in-laws. We finally saw The Hunger Games (see my excited pre-movie photo below), and we both ended up really, really loving it. I've read all the books but Hank had no idea what it was even about, and we both said "wow" at the end and truly enjoyed it. I thought it was so well-done and I am anxiously awaiting the next one. The rest of the day was spent running errands- Target and Trader Joe's- and it was another early night!





This weekend was just what I needed to snap me out of this weird mood I've been carrying around with me. I'd call it a funk but it was a bit deeper than that, so I am extra grateful I was able to spend time with so many people I love. That's always the thing that helps me the most when I feel down- I have to get out of the little box I'm in and remember that there's a whole world out there, a bigger picture, so many more important things to focus on.  I hope you had a great weekend too! And if you didn't, luckily there's another one right around the corner. <3

LA Girls' Trip

I spent this past weekend in California with two of my favorite girls and had a wonderful, fun, and relaxing time. We stayed at the Thompson Beverly Hills, and after a weird "your reservation was somehow canceled by someone" situation, it turned out to be a great hotel (although they handled the situation very strangely...but that's a story for another day). Anyway, Anita, Andy and I flew into LAX and met at our rental car place before heading over to The Thompson, and it was so fun to have a reunion, since the last time the three of us were together was Las Vegas back in October when we took a girls' trip with a few more of our friends. I talk to Andy and Anita every single day- they have both become two of my closest friends and it was fantastic to be able to spend the weekend catching up in person.

After we got to the hotel and got settled we headed out to Real Food Daily for dinner. I've heard so much about this place and I was really excited to try it. I ordered the BLT wrap (all of their food is organic and vegan) and it was SO good. Really, really delicious and we all loved our meal. I highly recommend it, and I was so sad Hank and Henry weren't there to enjoy it too! After dinner we drove around LA and Hollywood for awhile; we did the Walk of Stars, checked out all of the touristy stuff, and oohed and ahhed over the beautiful homes up in the hills. We ended our night at Sweet Lady Jane's, a Hollywood bakery, and ordered a ton of desserts to split. The best of the group was the Key Lime tart...it was to-die-for.

The next morning we woke up and went to Toast for breakfast. It was also really, really good. We spent the rest of the day shopping in the rainiest weather and although we were soaked to the bone it was a fun time. After lunch I had a little meeting regarding some blog business, then later in the afternoon I started to feel really tired so I napped for a couple hours while the girls stayed out. They came back later to wake me up before dinner, and we headed out the door to El Cholo, our Mexican restaurant pick for the night.

(Are you noticing a theme here? Shop, eat, shop, eat! It was my kind of trip!)

Dinner was traditional Mexican food and my favorite part was probably the guacamole they made right at our table. We all loved it, but Andy started to feel a little sick afterward so Anita and I dropped her off at the hotel and headed over to Magnolia to pick up some cupcakes to go. We'd both experienced Magnolia in NYC before and weren't the hugest fans, and these treats unfortunately proved no different. I really love cake, but Magnolia has disappointed me a couple of times. We did get some cookies though that were great. We spent the rest of the night girl-talking and hanging out, enjoying our last night of vacation together.

The next morning we went to Swingers and ate great diner food, then did Fred Segal and a few other shops, and ended our afternoon with In-N-Out since Andy doesn't have one up in Seattle.  My flight home ended up being canceled due to the crazy snow we got, so I got on Anita's flight and we flew home to Phoenix.

I can't say enough how much fun this past weekend was. I feel lucky to have such wonderful girls in my daily life, and I also feel lucky to be able to have weekends away like this. And as much as I love going on fun trips with my girlfriends, nothing beats coming home to my boys.

Here are some random Instagram photos from the weeekend.

Henry's first trip to the Zoo!

Today was so much fun. And I'm pretty sure Henry had fun too, although it's kind of hard to tell when you take a 15-month old to the zoo since he can't really say "hey this is SO fun!" But I'm guessing all of his pointing, laughing, and "what's that?" meant he loved it too.  It was a beautiful day (let's ignore the insane wind and focus on the sun!) and we met a handful of my friends and their kiddos for the afternoon. Our group spent a few hours walking around, playing, and snacking. We'd never been to the Phoenix Zoo and after going I think we will probably get an annual pass next fall. There weren't too many animals out today, but we did meet a huge rainbow-bummed baboon and some silly monkeys. We also saw tigers, giraffes, and an elephant, and pet some goats in the petting zoo. All in all, tons of fun. Here are some photos from our day:

Playdates & feeling like an adult

Do you ever stop yourself in the middle of something and think "Holy cow, I'm an adult?" As expected it's been happening more than ever now that I'm a parent, and sometimes it totally sneaks up on me in the weirdest places. For instance just the other morning I was pulling out of our garage and I had these thoughts- "I have a garage." "I have a garage with shelving in it, with things organized on them." "Ahhh I'm an adult!" Do you know what I mean, or am I just crazy? We'll be doing weird things, like spending a Sunday afternoon at Home Depot, or anything else that seems "adult-like" and I'll think about this.

This past Thursday Autumn invited some of our girlfriends over to her house for a playdate. I've spent countless days over there, but for some reason on this day I kept thinking about how crazy it was that we were all Moms now, going over to a friend's house to get our kids together. It's something my Mom did all the time when we were younger- we spent so many afternoon at our friends' houses, our Moms talking in the kitchen- and it was kind of neat to think that now I was the mama doing these things.  It's all come full-circle.

It was a great day though, and so fun to see all of the kids together, since we had a huge age range. Nat's little girl Scarlet is 10 months, Henry is 14 months, Autumn's kids are 23 months and 3 1/2, and Anita's daughter Lola is 2 1/2.

Here are a few photos from our day-

Henry's 1st birthday party

Ahh, what a wonderful and positively special day! Today we celebrated our sweet Henry's birthday, and it was pretty amazing to look around the room and see so many of our most favorite people, all there for Henry. It still blows me away to feel the love on days like today, and I can't thank our friends and family enough for being such beautiful parts of our life, especially Henry's. He's a lucky, lucky boy.

I had a ton of fun creating and crafting every little detail and even making Henry's bowtie. I actually made Hank a matching one too, but he wasn't into it! ha. Being that the party was at two o'clock, I decided to do more of an appetizer/light lunch spread, so I made caprese bites (cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and buffalo mozzarella drizzled with balsamic vinegar), vegan pasta salad, artichoke and spinach dip, hummus and pitas, and lots of veggies. For dessert I ordered six dozen cupcakes from a local bakery and a much larger-than-expected smash cake for Henry. The cupcakes were seriously GREAT. I tried a little of each kind, and my favorite was probably the red velvet. We also had some other flavors- chocolate sea salt caramel, carrot cake, birthday cake surprise (kind of like a fancy funfetti), and lemon supreme. Yum.

One of my favorite parts of the party was sharing a video I made of the past year. There weren't many dry eyes in the room, and it was really neat to be able to commemorate this past year in such a special way. I'll be sharing that movie here on his actual birthday (on Tuesday), so check back in a few days if you'd like to see it too! Another touch I loved was the "12 months of Henry" photos I strung on green and white baker's twine above the food area. It was neat to see them all lined up, and our guests really enjoyed it too.

Overall the party was beyond successful. Henry was in great spirits the entire time, there was enough food and drink to go around, and the "thank you" bags of cookies I made for guests to take as they left were all snatched up. All in all, it was the best day and the most wonderful way to celebrate our sweet birthday boy. 













































silhouette originally created by Mando at Immaculate Tattoo (same silhouette that is on my arm). Made into a digital file and altered by the talented Lindsay Goldner.